Stage 6: Bargaining and Denial. By this point in your recovery, your physical injuries have healed and your mental and emotional states grow stronger by the day. Once you have fully regained your strength and have faced reality, you may engage in the fantasy of returning to your former life as though nothing has changed. Perhaps you’re convinced that if you say or do just the right thing, you can return to school, rekindle old friendships, or resume your role as the favorite daughter at home. Do not fall victim to this line of thinking.
As in the other stages, you may return to bargaining and denial many times throughout your recovery, but you must be vigilant against it now. Repeat to yourself: Nothing is the same, and everything has changed, and I am incapable of altering the tide of fate.
This is the first step toward acceptance.